Update, I managed to get back into the server, by forcing a static IP for the host computer, and reverting it to the original IP address. It seems to be working as before, which is by using the server.bat and zomboid.bat files rather than logging in through steam. does this mean any time the IP for the host changes, all character progress will be lost? I could connect using a new character, but any character which played on the previous IP was not able to connect. I did try to set up a steam server, using the instructions provided in the 32.20 post, but I cannot get it to allow any connections. It says it is listening on port 16261 which I have set up to forward to the host PC, as well as the two default steamserver ports, but nothing seems to work. I cannot connect using the local IP, external IP, any of the open ports, any combination of the two. It keeps saying the server is not responding, but based on the server prompt window, everything seems to be working properly. Thanks for the reply, I did try changing the character folder to match the new server and thats when I ran into problems. before this patch, that method worked fine. now the server IP doesnt match the player's IP and it will not allow that character to join. a new character was able to, but none which had played before the IP changed.